Long Live the Troublesome!
by siriuslybritish
Summary: 'Far from giving up, young blood, cry tough. Mean street run, there's a hunger inside you. Desperate rebel run away, far from giving up.' -Rated M for language, violence, and things. Read and enjoy.-
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One-

"Happy birthday, Gemsie." Angela smiled as she lit a cancer stick. I smirked at her.

"Thanks, Angie." I said as I plucked the cigarette out of her hand. I took a puff and threw it to the ground and stomped it. "Your lungs are going to be black."

Angela rolled her eyes, but kept her smile on.

She was tall at 5'10", with midnight black hair that was usually half up, and deep, dark brown eyes. Her skin was pale and flawless, and her voice was real light. She sounded a little like an air-head, if you ask me, but I knew she wasn't. She was real street-smart, and, even though she definitely didn't look it, she was hard. Rock hard. If her skin wasn't so flawless, if she had a cut or two, she'd look tuff. But I guess you don't always gotta look tuff to be tough. Angela was 19 going on 20, in her Senior year of high school. She failed her Junior year.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." She sighed. "But it's too hard to quit." I sighed, too, and we walked down the street in silence. "Hey, how 'bout we run in to the DX and grab a couple candy bars, and a pop a piece?"

"Sure." I said. We made a right and headed towards the DX. I knew that Soda and Steve would be working their shift, which was probably why Angela wanted to go in. I loved Angela, but man- she couldn't get enough of those boys to make her happy. I felt sorry for her boyfriend.

We walked into the DX, ignoring the Soc girls beside the door. They were all squealing over Soda.

When we walked in, Soda's elbow was propped up on the check-out counter and his head was in his hand. As soon as he saw us, his eyes lit up.

"Hey, Gemma! Hey, Angela!" he grinned, standing up right.

"Hi, Soda." I waved. His grin made me grin, too, and my grin made Angela grin.

"Hey, Soda, baby." Angela winked. I picked out two pops- a Pepsi for Angela and a coke for me- and four chocolate bars, while Angela flirted with Soda, who didn't flirt back, but laughed. Angela kept going as I sat the money in front of Soda.

"Hey, birthday gal, do you mind stopping at the house tonight? The gang's got a surprise for you." Soda winked. I giggled, and Steve walked into the room.  
"It ain't a surprise if she knows about it." He said, slugging Soda's shoulder. Angela and I shared a laugh and Steve turned to me. "Happy Birthday." He said, a faint smile on his lips.

"Thanks, Steve." I smiled. Angela nudged me and laughed, while I rolled my eyes.

Angela and I said our goodbyes and left with our pops and candy bars.

"So, how's good old Danny doin''?" Angela asked. She couldn't see my face, since it was dark out, but I rolled my eyes.

"He's fine." I kicked a rock. "Still bein' as annoying as always." Angela laughed.

"He still hangin' around with Buck Merril?" she asked.

"Yup." I took a bite of my candy bar. "They might as well be married."

We talked about random things for a while, until we made it to Angela's house.

"See ya, kid. Tell your gang I said hey. Tell your brother the same." Angela ruffled my pale blonde hair and walked inside her house. I sighed.

See, Angela's house was about five blocks, if not more, away from my house. I'd have to walk those blocks alone, but Greasers weren't supposed to walk alone. That was probably the number one rule to follow, if you were a Greaser. If you didn't, you'd probably get jumped…unless you were real careful.

I tousled up the courage to get off of Angela's front porch and head towards my house after a while. I'd be careful.

The first block was a breeze. No one was outside- there wasn't even a Greaser in sight! But then, I got to the second block, and I realized that there was a black mustang trailing me. I walked a little faster, hoping I could get to the third block, which was where Two Bit Mathew's house was, so I could hide out there. The only thing the Socs would want is a fight or something. But I've never known them to trail a _girl _greaser before. The guys were almost always being followed.

The mustang got even closer to me, even though I was actually starting to jog, and as I finally decided to sprint, the mustang only sped up. After a few minutes of playing something kind of like cat-and-mouse, I got tired, and came to a stop. The mustang stopped, too, and four Soc guys piled out, all of them wearing ski jackets and collared shirts. Two of them looked around, like they were scoping out anyone who might witness whatever was about to happen.

"Look here, fellas!" One Soc called out to his three buddies. "It's a Greaser! A _girl _Greaser! Out all by herself…"

His pals all gave the exact same smirk. To be honest, they all looked the same to me, with their Beatles hair-cuts and madras ski jackets. I glared at them, and I tried to look tough, but I knew that it wasn't working. They took one step towards me, and I made the mistake of taking one back. They knew I was scared, and they were going to scare me even more.

"You're awfully cute to be a Greaser, you know that, honey?" One winked. They all laughed and got even closer. I rolled my eyes.

"Back off." I growled. They all pretended to look surprised, while a Soc with medium-brown hair got up in my face. "Y'all can't be on the East Side's turf."

He grabbed the sleeve of my shirt and slammed me up against the brick building behind me. That was when I knew that I was going to get my ass kicked.

Images of the beating Johnny took a while back flashed through my mind and I shivered. Was I going to get it as bad as Johnny had?

The other three Socs came up behind him and crowded around me. They each grabbed ahold of me and shoved me into the nearest alley. I kicked and squirmed and everything, but they had their grip on me, and I wasn't getting away. They all smelt like they took a bath in beer.

The four of them pushed me to the ground and I tried to scream, but one Soc kicked me, and the breath was knocked out of me, so the only thing that came out of my mouth was a strained cough. I went through a solid few minutes of kicks and punches being thrown at me from left to right, and just when I thought that I was ready to fade into the blackness that was just barely taking me over, everything stopped. Everything was quiet for a few seconds, until three Socs held my arms and legs down, whilst the last Soc sat on top of me.

He smiled down at me, and I glared daggers into his dull, emotionless eyes. I was sure that there was fire, or fear, or maybe both, in my own eyes, but he didn't care. He didn't feel guilty or sorry or angry or anything. He held his hand tight over my mouth and leaned down to spit in my face. I flinched and flopped around, trying to break free so I could nail him in the jaw like I did to Danny the last time we sparred, but he put all of his weight on me.

I felt his hand trail down my side and to the end of my skirt, his hand moved up under my skirt just a bit, and he very slowly moved his hand from my mouth. I screamed as loud as I could, but that only got me into more trouble.

"David! Hush her up! Quick!" one Soc said.

The Soc on top of me slugged me once, and I was out cold.

The thudding of footsteps brought me back into the world. I slowly opened my eyes and, for a moment, I had forgotten that I'd been jumped. I forgot that the four Socs had trailed me. I forgot that I'd dared to walk home by my lonesome. I forgot everything, but it all flooded back into my mind as a surge of pain went through my body like a tsunami.

I groaned in pain as I tried to sit up. The blood rushed to my head, and I let myself fall backwards so I wouldn't pass out.

A shadow fell over me and I nearly jumped out of my skin, thinking it was those Socs, back for another round, but it was only Johnny Cade and Ponyboy Curtis, two of my best friends. Johnny's big, black, lost-puppy eyes stared down at me in shock. Pony looked dumbfounded.

"Gemma?!" Ponyboy cried. "What happened to you? Lord! You look terrible."

I waved him off and closed my eyes, hoping he'd get the message that I was hurting too bad to speak.

Johnny and Pony whispered for a few minutes, meanwhile I nearly fell asleep.

Suddenly, I was lifted off the ground and carried bridal-style out of the alley and onto the sidewalk.

"Can you stay awake until we get to Ponyboy's house?" Johnny said softly. I opened one eye to look up at his tan face. Pony was walking beside him, biting his nails. That was a nervous habit of his. I just barely nodded an okay, and then I rested my head against his chest. My grey eyes fluttered closed.

To be honest, I didn't expect Johnny to be able to carry me. But I guess I'm smaller than I think. And those Socs probably knew that, too, now that I think of it. Or maybe Johnny was stronger than I thought.

I couldn't remember to good what happened. Maybe I didn't want to remember. It was bad enough knowing that I didn't use my head and practically let myself get beaten by those Socials.

I could taste blood in my mouth and I prayed that none of my teeth had been knocked out. Buck Merril had his two front teeth knocked out in a fight, once, and he wasn't too pretty looking, but he _did _look tuff.

"We're almost there, Gemma, just hold on a few more minutes." Ponyboy said worriedly. He tried to soothe me, I could tell, but it wasn't' helping much. I weakly gave a thumbs up, but kept my eyes closed. I probably looked pitiful. I was a little ashamed.

After about five minutes of walking, Johnny carried me up the steps of the Curtis' house. Ponyboy held the door open while Johnny brought me inside and lay me on the couch. I winced in pain and groaned. Darry, of course, hurried into the living room to see what was going on. His eyes widened at the sight of me.

The unserious, jokester side of me, that I swore I got from Two-bit, even though we weren't related, got the best of me, and I said, "Guess I'm not as pretty as usual, huh?"

Darry ignored my comment, which I regretted saying, because it sent tingles of pain through my jaw.

"What happened?" He asked worriedly. "Ponyboy, go get the bandages and first-aid kit from the bathroom. Johnny, can you go get a bag of ice from the freezer?" The boys went off to get the things and I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Were you walking with Johnny and Ponyboy?" he asked. I shook my head, and I felt a little pang in my chest. What was that pang? Shame, maybe? "Were you walking alone?" I took a deep breath and nodded. Darry sighed. "Come on, Gemma, you know better than to walk alone. That sounds like something Ponyboy would do! He never uses his head. You hardly ever do!" Darry tried to stay calm but, really, he never could. I didn't blame him. He was right. I didn't always use my head- however, I definitely used it more than Ponyboy ever did. Another wave of pain washed over me, and before I could apologize to Darry for acting so stupid, the familiar blackness swallowed me whole.

I woke up to a dull pain in my ribs and a throbbing head. It took me a few minutes to realize that I was in a bed- not my own bed, someone else's. After a few minutes I found that I was in Soda and Pony's bed, at the Curtis' house. Someone must have carried me in here after I blacked out.

I rubbed my eyes and blinked a few times, trying to wake up fully before I moved or anything. I took a deep breath and I stared at the faded, white ceiling above me, appreciating the silence around me. It had been a long time since I'd heard nothing. Usually, I was always with the gang or my brother, Danny. The whole lot of us was always yelling and hollering, wrestling, watching cartoons, tripping over things, and laughing. I probably did the most laughing out of all of us, besides Two-Bit Matthews. That guy was such a wise-ass. You really had to love him.

I listened closely, and finally, I heard a thud and a groan. I smirked. Someone had just tripped over the coffee table, in the living room. Silence would never last around here.

I sat up in the bed. The upper half of my body was so sore that I could hardly move, but I toughed it out and threw the blankets off of me and stood up. I nearly lost my balance, but I managed to stay up.

I stretched a little and made my way to the door. When I opened it, four sets of eyes all snapped towards me.

Ponyboy, Johnny, Darry, and Two-Bit were all sitting in the living room. Darry had been reading the paper, Two-Bit was rubbing his knee, and I wasn't really sure what Johnny and Pony had been doing. (They never did much but hang around, or occasionally chat.)

"It's alive!" Two-Bit cried after a few minutes of awkward silence. He laughed at his own joke, and I couldn't help but laugh with him. I quickly regretted that, though, because my head started throbbing again. Darry threw the paper on the coffee table and walked over to me. He led me to the couch and sat me down in his place. He went to the kitchen and came back with a cup of water and a few aspirins.

"How do you feel?" he asked, handing me the water and the aspirins.

"Like shit." I sighed, leaning back and closing my eyes. Two-Bit sighed, too, and he put his arm around my shoulders.

"Darry told me you got jumped." Two blurted out. I opened my eyes and glanced at him. "Don't you know that you ain't supposed to walk alone?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know it." I frowned. "I didn't think about it I guess."

"You gotta do a whole lot more than guessing, from now on." Darry said sternly.

"Yes, sir." I nodded. Darry thought I was being goofy whenever I called him 'sir', but I was being completely serious. Anyone I had a lot of respect for, I called sir.

Darry could have gone to college, but after he graduated high school, he decided to stay home and work, so he could support Ponyboy and Sodapop. Who _wouldn't_ respect a guy who'd do that?

"No more walking alone." Darry started. "Next time, call one of us, and we'll come get you."

"Okay." I said.

"And-" Darry was about to go on, but Two-Bit stopped him.

"Aw, c'mon, Darry, she knows it, now. Don't you, baby doll?" Two-Bit asked. I gave a half-smile.

"You bet I do." I sank back in the couch a little more, and Two-Bit turned the TV on. He flicked through channel after channel, until he got to Mickey Mouse. His bright blue eyes lit up, and suddenly it was like there was nothing else in the world that mattered besides Mickey. Darry waved us off and he went back to reading the newspaper in his recliner.

Not even ten minutes after that, Darry and I both heard snoring. I didn't have to look to know that Ponyboy and Johnny were asleep. Two-Bit was still glued to the TV screen, so he didn't even notice them. I wanted to scream and make them jump out of their skins, like I usually did when I found the two of them asleep, but yet another wave of pain went through my body and I was silent.

Soda and Steve walked in about fifteen minutes after I let out a quick, but loud, yell, to scare Pony and Johnny. They both jumped ten feet in the air, I could've swore, and I tried to laugh, but I had to settle with my usual goofy grin, since laughing hurt way too much. Darry rolled his eyes and gave me a disapproving look. My ribs were aching like mad. Steve was covered in oil and dirt, Soda not so much. They were both sweating like pigs, though. Steve was using a dirty rag to wipe his face, which was just getting him greasier.

"Gee, Darry, finally try to calm this kid down?" Steve joked.

"No, -" I cut Darry off.

"I got jumped." I said seriously. Steve and Soda stopped in their tracks and turned towards me.

"You what?" Soda cried.

"I got jumped." I rolled my eyes.

"Shoot!" Steve said. "On your damn birthday, too!"

I didn't say anything. I felt like a complete idiot. Soda plopped down beside me and gently grabbed my face, and turned it towards his.

"You look terrible!" he said.

"Well, thanks." I said. I pushed his hands away from my face and leaned back again. "How long have I been asleep, Darry?" I asked.

"Just a few hours." Darry said. "I tried my best to clean you up some. Guess it wasn't too much help."

"Oh well." I said, slightly shrugging. "Thanks for takin' care of me."

Darry didn't say anything after that. He threw his paper on the coffee table and he headed to his room. I could tell by the way he walked that his back was hurting, again.

"Who jumped you? I'll jump 'em right back!" Steve called from the kitchen. He and Soda came back into the living room and Soda handed me a glass of chocolate milk. Steve took Darry's recliner- which I was pretty sure was forbidden- and Soda sat between Ponyboy and Johnny.

"I dunno." I said. Steve lit a cigarette, which I was quick to snatch from him. I took a few puffs and blew smoke rings into the air. "Four Soc guys." Steve reached over and the plucked the cigarette back out of my hand.

"Those damned Socs…" he grumbled, taking a long puff of the cancer stick. Soda was quiet, like Johnny and Pony, which was very rare.

Finally Pony broke the silence, and said, "Well, what're we gonna do?"

"There's nothin' we can do, Pony." Soda sighed. Steve raised his eyebrows and I could tell he didn't agree. To him, fighting was always the answer. Soda had just a little more sense than him.

Soda was right. If the Greasers got revenge, the Socs would later get revenge on us, and it would go on and on and on.

Pony sighed after Soda.

"It ain't fair." Johnny said, shaking his head.

"I shouldn't have walked alone." I said. Maybe I had it coming, for being so dumb.

"That's true." Steve nodded. "But it still ain't fair."

"I'll be okay." I closed my eyes. "I just need a day to rest. My whole body is killing me."

I opened my eyes and they flickered over to Two-Bit, who I had completely forgotten was in the room. His episode of Mickey Mouse was coming to an end, and so he had turned to us, to join the conversation.

Before we could move onto anything else, I fell asleep on the couch. That night I had dreams about Socs, black mustangs, and empty eyes.

Some sixteenth birthday.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two-

The next morning, I felt better, but boy was I sore.

I woke up to the slamming of the front door. My eyes fluttered open and I lay on the couch in the living room for a few moments. I listened to the Curtis' truck start, outside. I knew Darry, Soda, and Steve were just leaving for work. Soda and Steve would be home at six, today, and Darry would probably get home around nine.

I rubbed my eyes and stood up. My ribs weren't aching anymore and my head wasn't pounding, but I was so slow and lazy in the morning, it was unbelievable... Basically, I acted like I was still in pain.

I'd much rather lay in bed than get out of it, any morning. When I was a kid, my dad had the worst time getting me up for school. I smiled to myself, remembering all those good times me, Danny, and Dad used to have. After me and Danny turned eight, we didn't have any good times. My smile disappeared.

I yawned and stretched and made my way to the kitchen. I grabbed some cake from the freezer and I practically inhaled it. I cleaned up my mess, not to mention a few other messes around the house, as a thank you to the Curtis' for keeping me at their house, and then I decided to take a shower.

In the bathroom, I ran the sink full of water and let my clothes soak in there. I got into the shower and tried to get the dried blood and dirt out of my coffee-brown hair. Delish.

I would never share this thought with anyone, but I absolutely loved taking showers at the Curtis' house. The soap the Curtis' had smelt like strawberries and it reminded me of some pretty farm out in the country that I'd dreamed about moving to, once. And the water was high pressured, so I felt like I was getting a massage, while I stood in there. It nearly put me to sleep, but I remembered that I shouldn't waste any water or raise the water bill or anything, so I shut the water off and got out.

I wringed the water out of my clothes the best I could and I dabbed at them with a towel before slipping them on. The dampness sent shivers through my body.

I towel-dried my hair the best I could and I groaned when it started to dry naturally and curl. See, I wasn't blessed with beautiful hair, like Angela's, or Evie's, or Sandy's. My hair was always wild and messy and outrageously wavy.

In short terms, I looked like I had sex hair every day of my life.

After about an hour of playing some really stupid, around-the-house games that I made up in no less than two minutes, I was bored out of my mind. I tip-toed into the room Pony and Soda shared to find a sleeping Pony. His mouth was slightly open and he was snoring.

I swear, if his hair was lighter, he'd be a _clone _of Soda!

There were a whole lot of things you could do to someone when they were sleeping. I decided to make an Indian call, like Danny taught me when we were kids, in his ear. So, I leaned down real close to his face, took a huge gulp of air, and literally just as I was about to let my scream out, the front door slammed. Pony jumped up and the side of his head collided with my forehead. I was surprised, so I fell off the bed, backwards, and I groaned in pain. Pony was rubbing his head when I got up out of the floor.

"Sorry, Pony…" I said. He grumbled, and I knew I had made him one cranky little boy, this morning. Ponyboy got out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom, meanwhile I made my way to the living room to see who had come in.

"Hey, sis." Danny said. He had a healing black eye and his light brown hair was greased back. As soon as I walked into the room, I was hit with the smell of his cheap cologne.

"Hey. " I nodded. He scanned me up and down.

"Damn, what happened to you?" he asked.

"Got jumped." I said. Danny made a 'tsk' noise, and I raised my eyebrows.

"At least you're okay. I remember when Cade got jumped real bad." Danny grimaced and I nodded. Poor Johnny. We were both quiet for a few minutes, until Two-Bit walked through the door.

"Well, lookie what the cat dragged in!" he cried. Danny nodded a hello and flashed a quick, fake smile.

Danny was never very open or outgoing towards my friends, much less to anyone. He was usually quiet, unless he was around me, Buck Merril, or our dead-beat dad.

Two-Bit went into the kitchen and dug around for some food, like he did every morning when he came to Curtis house.

"So, what'd you come here for?" I asked Danny.

"Just wanted to see if you were here." He replied. "And Buck's got a favor to ask you. The broad who bar tends at his place had to take a shift off. He wants to know if you'll take her place?"

I sighed. If I ever went to Buck Merril's place, I partied. I'd gone with Dallas a few times, and once I went with Angela. (Of course, Angela and I hardly even saw each other- she was too busy sucking the faces off of all her boyfriends. ) I knew it would be hard for me to just stand there and serve drinks to a bunch of drunk greasers, and Danny knew this, too.

"You could make some quick cash." He said. I _did _need some money, especially after being fired from my job at the Diner downtown. If Two-Bit, Soda, and Steve hadn't come in and trashed the place, I'd still have that job.

"Alright." I said reluctantly. "I'm not going to be doing anything tonight, anyway. What time do I need to come in?"

"About 8 tonight." Danny situated his jacket. "Me and Buck are gonna go find somethin' to do. Guess we'll see you then."

"Later."

"Dallas'll be there." Danny gave me a small wink and escaped out the front door before I could throw anything at him. That punk thinks that there's something between me and Dallas Winston, because we hung around each other so much. But in reality, me and Dally were just really close. Kind of like how Danny and Buck were really close.

An hour or two later, me and Two-Bit were watching Mickey Mouse, and Pony was obsessing over his hair. Pony had great hair- it was tuff. Two-Bit's hair was pretty tuff, too, but there something about his rust colored side burns that made it a little less tuff. I glanced over at him. Those side-burns grew a little more each day.

"Whatcha starin' at?" he asked. His eyes were still glued to the tv screen and I wondered if he had eyes in the side of his head.

"Nothin'…" I said awkwardly, looking back to the credits of Mickey Mouse. Two-Bit smiled and I decided to check up on Ponyboy. I got off the couch and walked towards the bathroom.

"Pony?" I asked, opening the bathroom door. He jumped and dropped something in the sink.

"Huh?!" He said, alarmed. He moved to stand in front of the sink and leaned against it. "Yeah?"

"What're you doin'?" I asked curiously. "You've been in here for hours."

"Nothin', just greasin' my hair. I'll be out in a minute." He said.

I nodded, but didn't leave. A smirk started to form on my lips. "It takes five minutes to grease your hair, Pony. What're you _really _doin'?" Pony sighed.

"…Shaving…" he mumbled. I stifled a laugh.

"You're what?" I asked, just to hear him say it again.

"Shaving…" I started laughing and Pony crossed his arms. His face went as red as a tomato.

"It ain't funny!" he cried.

Pony didn't even need to shave, and I couldn't help but think it was funny that he thought he should.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" I said. I started to calm down, but I had a big, goofy grin on. "Let's go do somethin'…I'm tired of sitting around the house." I left the bathroom and went back to the living room. Two-bit wasn't in there anymore, and I checked the kitchen, but he wasn't there, either.

"Two-Bit?" I called. No answer. "Pony, do you see Tw-"

"BOO!" Two-bit jumped in front of me, out of nowhere. I screamed and jumped back, nearly tripping.

"Bitch!" I cried, one hand over my heart. He was on the floor, howling with laughter. Pony was chuckling, standing behind him. I rolled my eyes. "That wasn't funny!"

When Two-Bit finally got himself together, he chugged a glass of the chocolate milk from the fridge, and turned to us. I stretched and glared at him.

"What're we doin', kids?" he asked. I rolled my eyes and turned to Pony.

"Wanna go see a movie?" I asked. Pony nodded and I looked at Two-Bit, who also nodded. "Can we stop at my house first? I need some clothes."

We walked out of the house and we took our own sweet time to get to mine. The whole way there, Two-Bit was cracking jokes, and I was trying not to fall over from laughing so hard. Ponyboy was right there with me. Two-Bit grinned at me, and I wiped my eyes a grinned back. He could always make me laugh, no matter what the situation would be.

When we got to my house, I told Two and Pony that I'd be out in five minutes. I snuck inside and ran upstairs to my room, trying to avoid my dad. I dug around my dresser drawers and pulled out a pair of jeans and a casual button up shirt. I slipped my black leather loafers on and grabbed my army jacket, then headed back outside to the boys. I passed my dad in the hallway beside the stair case, but neither of us said anything to each other, much less even acknowledged each other.

I walked out the door and jumped over the stairs onto the sidewalk. I wasn't surprised to see Johnny standing with Ponyboy. He must've seen us and walked over to see what we were up to.

"Let's go!" I said. Two-bit howled, Johnny grinned, and Pony laughed.

Before we went to the movies, the four of us went to a little store that was near the theater. We spent a good half hour in there, and managed to swipe two cartons of cancer sticks, a lighter, and for me, a pack of bubblegum. The older man working at the check-out counter was half-blind, and all he did was smile and wave and occasionally talk to us. I felt so bad stealing from his store that I decided to buy something- two Pepsis, one for me, one for Pony. We were both crazy over some Pepsi.

"Bye-bye, you all have a nice day." The man said as we were leaving. He was a sweetheart.

"You too!" I called before walking out the door.

We made it to the movie house in just a few minutes after we left the store. We got our seats inside, Two-Bit sitting down last because he had stopped and gotten some popcorn. The movie was about some stupid beach party, which the guys really enjoyed, because there was an excessive amount of girls in bikinis.

"Ooh-wee!" Two-Bit nudged Pony and grinned. "Ain't she a looker!" Johnny grinned and Pony nodded. I groaned and they looked over at me.

"I'm still here."

"We know." Two Bit said, turning back to the movie. He cracked a smile and I punched his shoulder.

When a guy first appeared on the beach shirtless, I wolf whistled.

"Why don't you show me what's hangin', baby?" I yelled. The Soc's in the theater turned and glared at us, while our fellow Greasers were cracking up.

I had heard Two-Bit say, "Hey baby, you wanna see what's hanging" to a girl once, when he was drunk. That earned him a slap, but damn, was it funny.

Two-Bit turned to me and said, "Stealin' my material, are we?"

I grinned, which made him smile, and winked.

"Maybe."

When the movie was over, the four of us started to walk home. Soc's kept driving by real slow, but we didn't even glance at them, and they left us alone. Once, however, I gave one Soc the finger.

We got back to the Curtis' house when it was near dark. Two-Bit just _had_ to stop at the park and he made us play on the playground for at least two hours. It was a whole lot of fun hanging out with the three of those guys. Two-Bit held the front door open for me, Pony, and Johnny.

"Ladies first." He said, slightly bowing. I smirked and pushed him through the door while he was off-guard. I repeated what he said and we all laughed.

After that, we all watched Mickey Mouse for a little while, and then I asked them to walk me home so I could get ready to go to Buck's place. We goofed around the whole way there, too, and then we said our goodbyes, at my house, with a little bit of sadness.

I walked up the wooden steps of my house and opened the front door, immediately greeted by the smell of smoke- cigar smoke. Dad was in one of his nasty moods again.

I hurried upstairs and brushed out my coffee-colored hair and quickly pinned it up. It wasn't the prettiest style, but I didn't have a lot of time. I put on a little mascara and grabbed some lip gloss before leaving my room and going into the living room downstairs.

Dad sat in a recliner, smoking a cigar. There was an empty bottle of Scotch beside him, and in one hand he held half a glass of it. There was a permanent scowl on his face that I hated with all my might.

I slipped a jacket on.

"I'm going to take a shift at Buck Merril's bar," I told him. He raised one brow and puffed a cloud of smoke into the air. "I'll be home late."

He was silent until I was nearly out the door.

"You're a whore… just like your mother." I looked back over my shoulder at him and he took a drink of his Scotch. "She'd spend every one of her nights out, probably fucking a hundred other men…"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three-

I took a short-cut that I had discovered a long time ago to Buck's. All I had to do was walk through a few abandoned buildings- which were plentiful on the East Side, let me tell you- and cross two streets. And then I was standing at the back of the big bar, looking up at all the windows from the bottom floor to the third. I could see the moon's reflection in all of them, and I wondered what it was like to be all alone without anyone around you, like the moon was.

I pushed the back door open and stepped inside. Elvis Presley was blaring in my ears and a bunch of drunks stumbled around, dancing on each other. It was cluttered and hard to get around, and the whole place wreaked of alcohol and cheap, old-lady perfume.

I spotted Buck and Danny and slowly made my way over to them. Danny waved and Buck stood up.

"Hey, Gemsie." Buck winked. A Johnny Cash song started to play and I think his country twang showed a little more than usual.

"Hey, Buck!" I grinned. Him and Danny grinned, and Buck put a hand on my shoulder.

"Thanks for takin' Cindy's shift. Without booze, there wouldn't be no party!" He smiled and scanned my body. "You look good." He said after a minute, one eyebrow raised. He grabbed my hand before I could say thanks and spun me around. I laughed as we started dancing, and Danny smiled. He made a heart with his hands and he made a kissy face at me, while Buck's back was to him, so I rolled my eyes and looked back at Buck just as the song ended.

"Guess I should get on over there…" I said. We were talking a little louder over the music. He let go of me and nodded.

"Right, honey. I'll see you later." He tipped the cowboy hat he was wearing and I made my way through the insane crowd of partiers to the bar. There was a pretty blonde girl behind the counter.

"Are you Cindy?" I asked. She nodded. "I'm Gemma."

"Whew! Glad you got here! The real crowd is starting to get here!" she smiled. "Thanks for takin' my shift, Gemma."

"No problem." I stepped behind the counter and she handed me her apron. I tied it around my waist and straightened it out on my lap.

"Gosh, you sure are pretty!" Cindy said as she was putting on her jacket. Her bright blue eyes seemed to stand out in the dim light of the bar and her straight blonde hair framed her face perfectly.

"Really?" I asked, surprised. Cindy was even more beautiful than a soc, and she came off a little snobby, so I hadn't expected her to be so nice. "Thanks." She smiled again and said a quick goodbye, then hurried off. I watched her disappear through the crowd.

The first hour or two of the job wasn't bad; there was a big crowd coming in, but at least nobody was drunk. In fact, there weren't that many people ordering drinks. Everyone in front of me was just a big, sweaty, dancing heap. I only saw a few people I knew from school, except for Buck and Danny and few other Greases of course. There were a few more Socs that came in, too.

It was third hour and after that got a little crazy. More and more people started ordering things, the party was going full blast, and there had already been three fights.

A guy, drunk off his ass, stumbled over to me, to order a drink. He propped his elbow up on the table and flashed a goofy smile at me.

"Can I help you?" I laughed.

"Yeah…honey…Can you fix me a drink?"

"Like?"

He laughed and said something I couldn't understand, then he leaned real close.

"Forget the drink, baby…" he grinned. "Let's you and me go up…stairs."

I grinned and leaned real close to him, too. So close, our noses were almost touching. His face turned a fiery shade of red. I acted like I was going to kiss him or something, but as soon as he closed his eyes, I gave him a nice church-pinch. My mom used to give those to me. They sting like a bitch.

The guy pulled away, surprised, and stumbled backwards. When he nearly fell on his butt, I laughed and said, "Get lost, punk."

He hiccupped and managed to stand back up, nearly tipping over in the process, but he didn't leave.

"C'mon, don't…don't be like that." He said. I cocked a brow.

"Look, do you want a drink or not?" I asked.

"I want _you_." He kind of chuckled.

"_Well, _I'm not on the menu." I said. He said something I couldn't understand, again, and disappeared into the crowd in front of me. I sighed and served a few more drinks to the people beginning to crowd around the bar.

After an hour of being bombarded with thirsty, sweaty, drunk teenagers, I was exhausted. My head was pounding from the yelling and insanely loud music, it was hotter than hell, and a lot of these dumb ass greaser guys wouldn't leave me alone.

I groaned and put my head down on the bar. I wanted to take a break- away from everybody if I could, but at the same time, I wanted to go out into the ocean of people and party with them. I sat back up and stared blankly at the scene in front of me. Everyone was having a great time. People were dancing, drinking, laughing, and a few were making out. I'd seen at least four people go upstairs. I closed my eyes and sighed.

A really fast-paced song with a great beat came on, and my head went down on the bar again. Here I was, stuck at party that I couldn't even party at.

A pair of hands grabbed my waist from behind and I jumped and turned around. Standing there was Buck, with a big grin on his face.

"Gettin' bored?" He asked. I nodded. "You've been workin' pretty hard. Why don't you come dance with me?" Buck opened a cabinet that I hadn't even known existed and pulled out a sign that said 'closed' and sat it up on the bar.

"Okay." I shrugged. Buck took my hand and he led me towards the crowd of people. Everyone made a path for him to get through, and when we got close to the middle of the crowd, he let go of my hand, and we started dancing.

At first, we were going kinda slow, but then the song changed, and everyone was grinding on each other. Other things were going on with a lot of people, too, but I won't get too detailed with that. Buck's hands were on either side of my butt, and every now and then I could feel his breath on the side of my neck, near my ear.

"Where'd you learn to dance so good?" Buck asked me. I laughed.

"I guess it just comes naturally!" I joked.

"Damn…" he purred. My heart was beating so fast, I was worried it would jump out of my chest. We kept dancing like that for a while. It seemed like more and more fast songs were playing.

Buck grabbed my hand and spun me around once, until I was facing him. I grinned up at him and put my arms around his neck, and he returned the favor by smiling down at me and bending down just a little to put both his hands on my butt. I squeaked and grabbed both his hands, pulling them to my waist. He laughed and we pet dancing.

After a good forty-five minutes or an hour, Buck was worn out, but I was just fine. Buck stopped for a minute.

"Let's-"

"Gem?" someone behind me asked. There was only one person in this world that called me Gem. I turned around to see Dallas Winston. My heart began to flutter.

So, maybe I had a tiny crush on Dally. But he was my best friend- he had been my best friend since he moved here from New York. There was no way in hell that he had feelings for me. Plus, he was always on and off with Sylvia. I wouldn't let my feelings get out of control.

"Hey, Dal." I smiled. Dally nodded once, his eyebrows furrowed, and glanced at Buck.

"You come here with this punk?" Dally asked, smirking. I laughed and shook my head. Buck laughed, too, but it sounded fake.

"Nah, I was working the bar for a little while." I said. Buck stood beside me and put his hand on my back. Dally cocked a brow and cleared his throat.

"Gem, can I talk to you?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure." Dally grabbed my wrist and started to pull me away, but I managed to smile at Buck and say, "I'll be right back." He nodded, and turned to talk to some friends.

Dallas led me to the hallway beside the bar. The music wasn't as loud, and nobody was around. I leaned against the wall and he lit a cigarette. He offered me a puff, which I took, then handed back to him.

"What is it, Dal?" I asked curiously. He wouldn't look at my face.

"I was wonderin'…uh…Shit..." He sighed.

"Spit it out." I grinned.

"Yeah, yeah." He rolled his eyes. "I was wonderin' if you wanted to go catch a movie at the Daily Double tomorrow night."

"Yeah, sounds cool." He blew some smoke to the side, and I thought for a moment. Why was that so hard to ask? He'd done it before, so how could this be any different? "Wait…" he glanced up at me, but his eyes quickly flickered somewhere else. "You mean, as a date?" I asked.

"Yeah." He said.

"Okay." I said. I could hear my heart beating and I prayed Dally couldn't. "What time?"

"I'll swing around your house at six." He said, throwing his cigarette onto the floor and stomping on it. I nodded, and a blush began to creep up on my face.

"I can dig that." I grinned. Dallas gave a slight grin and made his way back upstairs. I started walking towards Buck.

_I _had a date with Dallas Winston tomorrow.


End file.
